Meet the GUI Fellows for Summer 2017!

Showroop Pokhrel is a rising sophomore, double majoring in Math and Economics at Georgetown University. He intends to concentrate in the field of Environmental Economics. He is also a big fan of Chemistry and is currently pursuing a research on metal-oxo clusters, evaluating their potential as MRI contrast agents. Showroop is a passionate advocate for environmental conservation and has led many collaborated as well independent projects ranging from campaigning for use of bio-degradable bags, to large scale tree plantation to reaching out to schools, conducting awareness programs in his country Nepal. One of his projects called “A sapling a student, a future tree for the future generation” in 2014, garnered the attention of then President of Nepal. He is excited to learn more about the community based tourism and current management policies for sustainable implementation of eco-tourism projects in El Nido and wishes to conduct a similar study in Nepal in the near future. Showroop loves traveling, cooking and teaching.

Sabrina Marie Barredo Romulo is an incoming junior of Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. She has declared Global Business as her major, having specified a particular interest in the work being done within the intersection of the public, private and philanthropic sectors. As an international student hailing from Manila in the Philippines, Sabrina wants to make the most of the amazing opportunity she has to study abroad in the apex of diplomacy and international cooperation, Washington D.C. Besides focusing arduously on completing her academic studies, Sabrina is also the Secretary of Student Engagement of the Federal and D.C. Relations Committee of Georgetown University’s Student Administration, the Editor in Chief of the Roosevelt Institute’s Excelsior, and a research volunteer at Georgetown’s Beeck Center of Social Impact and Innovation. Sabrina is especially looking forward to returning to the Philippines this summer as a GU Impacts Fellow in El Nido. She is very passionate about one day enacting change in her country and doing her part to make sure that the Philippines reaches and lives up to its enviable potential.

Camille Bangug is a rising junior in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University majoring in International Politics with a certificate in International Development. On-campus, Camille consults for Georgetown Global Consulting, a non-profit student organization performing pro-bono consulting for NGOs and microfinance institutions around the world. She also serves on the Global Education Council of the Millennium Campus Network, which is a non-profit organization focused on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals through collaboration across universities and professionals working in the field. Camille is looking forward to working with El Nido Resorts this summer to continue pursuing her passion of studying and working within sustainable development. Outside of these endeavors, Camille works with other social justice initiatives on campus and is an avid musician.

Austin Hong is an Environmental Biology and English double major at Georgetown University. His research has included biodiversity in marshland habitats and gas production in the New Jersey estuarine wetlands, but he will be moving onto the wild world of caterpillar behavior in the coming fall. On campus, he is president of the environmental club, GREEN, and has won grants to start a campus food program that includes a hydroponics garden, beehives, and a composting system at the Farmer’s Market. He hopes to have a career as a scientist-writer focusing on sustainability, and has taken steps by planning dual senior theses: Biology, on caterpillars, and in English, a nonfiction work titled Demystifying Science: The Wetlands. He believes that sustainability can best be achieved by presenting scientific complexity in its completeness, and aims to do so with his postgraduate career.

Nadia Ilunga is a Masters Candidate in the Global Human Development program at Georgetown University. Following the completion of her Bachelor’s Degree at The College of William and Mary, Nadia began work in program management with HEAL Africa, an NGO based in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The challenges and opportunities of this experience spurred her interest in sustainable, private sector approaches to development, which now serves as the focus of her graduate studies. At Georgetown, Nadia is a fellow in the Global Social Enterprise and Development program, and serves as the Vice-President of the Georgetown Africa Forum. Nadia is excited to learn about tourism as a vehicle for economic growth during her summer with El Nido Resorts, and looks forward to applying the lessons learned to other regions with high tourism potential.

Giniel Mae Tiongson is a budding Environmental scientist from the Ateneo de Manila University. She leads an active life on and off campus. She currently serves as the Vice President for Human Resources of the Ateneo Environmental Science Society, the Loyola School’s premiere environmental organization. She also did volunteer works with local and indigenous communities at the Tamaraw Conservation Program and Mts. Iglit-Baco National Park Protected Area Office in Mindoro, Philippines. At present, she is doing a research on coral-algal phase shift as influenced by anthropogenic eutrophication in Puerto Galera, one of the most popular tourist spots and dive sites in the Philippines. She aims to make a significant contribution in bridging the gap between the scientific and non-scientific communities through the communication of information, problems, and solutions in a language digestible to stakeholders from different backgrounds.

JC Reyes is currently taking up a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Science at the Ateneo de Manila University. Over the span of his college education, JC has acquired experience through various field-works involving marine habitat assessment, mangroves, and river sampling. Having developed an advocacy for the environment, he has been serving in the Executive Board of the Ateneo Environmental Science Society for two years. Last August, he was included in the pioneer batch of the University Mobility in Asia Pacific Discovery Camp, a network of youth leaders in the Asia-Pacific region in partnership with CHED. He is currently working on his thesis involving hydrologic modeling and climate-change adaptation in the Angat Reservoir. Growing up with a keen interest in nature, JC aspires to be involved in Environmental policies one day.